© Environment News Service (ENS) 2001
September 26, 2001

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 26, 2001 (ENS) - Support for an international effort to save the Earth's remaining great apes was pledged Tuesday by the government of the United Kingdom in a move welcomed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

In a statement to a gathering of government representatives held at UNEP's headquarters in Nairobi, the UK government said it will lend expertise and crucial financial backing to the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP).

GRASP, which has brought together wildlife groups and charities from across the globe to save humankind's closest living relatives, was launched in May by Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's executive director.

"The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes," Toepfer said then. Tuesday he said, "This generous statement of support by the government of the United Kingdom means we have shaved a few seconds off this Doomsday clock."

Speaking for the UK government, Jeremy Bell, deputy permanent representative to UNEP, and a first secretary at the British High Commission, said his country is planning to make a substantial contribution.

"We are already working with UNEP to identify specific parts of the GRASP programme which could be supported by expertise and financial resources from the UK. We will encourage other countries to do likewise, and we would expect such government contributions to be matched by comparable sums from other sources," Bell said.

Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, are found in tropical Africa and Southeast Asia. As their habitats have become reduced, degraded and fragmented, ape populations have fallen. The remaining scattered populations are threatened by war and conflict, human expansion, mining, agriculture, logging, forest fires, hunting for bushmeat, and the capture of live specimens for sale.

"Rescuing the great apes is not just about saving these important and special creatures. It is a blueprint for sustainable development," Toepfer said. "In conserving and guaranteeing a future for the great apes we are also be tackling the poverty and environmental degradation which is blighting the lives of the people in Africa, Sumatra and Borneo where the great apes live," he said.

Under GRASP, key ape projects in Africa, Sumatra and Borneo have been and are being drawn up for support. Some sites are in need of equipment and training for wildlife protection staff and park rangers. Others need help in areas such as developing eco-tourism schemes so as to give local people livelihoods other than killing apes and selling them for bushmeat.

The GRASP team announced that Dr. Russell Mittermeier, president of the Washington, DC based group Conservation International, is to be the initiative's special envoy. Dr. Mittermeir is chairman of the World Conservation Union's Primate Specialist Group and Research Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

Dr. Mittermeier told the gathering, "We currently recognize about 15 different kinds of great apes. All of these are currently considered endangered and five are in the critically endangered category, which means they could go extinct in the next few years if rapid action is not taken now."

He will be working with a team of the world's foremost primate and wildlife experts. Richard Leakey, the former head of the Kenya Wildlife Service and world famous conservationist, has agreed to be a special advisor to GRASP.

The GRASP team includes Dr. Jane Goodall, the British conservationist and UNEP Global 500 Laureate best known for her pioneering work with chimpanzees, Japanese primate researcher Professor Toshisada Nishida, and Ian Redmond of the British based Ape Alliance which works with other wildlife groups to further ape conservation.

Redmond will be directing GRASP's technical operations together with Dr. Eve Abe, a conservationist formerly with the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The first technical visits will begin in November and December to key ape nations, including Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Congo (Brazzaville).

"A critical aspect of this work is the drafting of detailed great ape survival plans, tailored to each country's and species needs, said Redmond. "It is also to raise awareness of the plight of the great apes among the governments and citizens of their range states."

Dr. Abe said that ape related tourism is having a positive impact on both gorillas and people in Uganda. "I know from first hand just how important great apes are for my country. Wildlife tourism is one of the mainstays of Uganda's economy and mountain gorillas are certainly the biggest draw, closely followed by chimpanzees."

"Uganda has pioneered the sharing of revenues from great ape tourism with local communities, and thousands of families now benefit directly from the presence of their gorilla and chimpanzee neighbors," she said. Error: Unable to read footer file.